Chapter 10 "Breakfast at Tomo's, A unsettling feeling"
"Right now we're at 71 degrees, with a few isolated showers across the city. We should be hitting 76 degrees for today's high, with the wind blowing from the south at 9 to 12 MPH."
"Lali di la, looo toto..." Tomo hummed out loud in the kitchen.
Today was a different day for Tomo. No routine 12 o'clock wakeup for her. This Saturday was an important day for her. She was in the kitchen since the early morning hours, hustling around pots and ingredients. She was still dressed in her blue and yellow pajama shorts, along with a yellow 'happy face' tank top; as she had jumped right out of bed and into the kitchen. Tomo knocked a couple of pots over, making a small scene. "Shhhh..." she hushed the air in an attempt to silence the sound. The kitchen was crammed; being such a small space. An efficiency really meant the bare necessities--having the kitchen, living room/bedroom all in one big room and a separate bathroom.
"We'll take a quick break right now. It's 07:14 AM and this is Radio Osaka..." the announcer spoke as the commercials cut in.
"Where's the seasoning?" Tomo questioned herself, looking around the kitchen for the seasoning she needed. Opening up a couple of cupboards she found her spice. Reaching over, she knocked down the spoon that was resting in the mixing bowl. The spoon dropped on the floor. As Tomo reached down to retrieve the spoon, her elbow knocked over the mixing bowl, causing the contents to spill on her head.
"Oh crap," Tomo muttered, grabbing the bowl off her head and shaking her hair wildly. "How clumsy," she giggled.
Meanwhile not too far away in the living quarters a sound, sleeping Yomi was stretched out on the lawn chair. Her foot twitched slightly, along with sudden unnoticeable muscle twitches in her face.
Overlooking a mountain path the lone teen looked across the great distance. She gently took small steps, moving slightly forward. Coming to a stop at a fork in the road Yomi looked at the two options she had.
"I can take the left or right path." she thought, tilting her head back and forth in a rhythmic motion.
"Either path will bring great mystery." A young child's voice came from behind Yomi in a rhythmic tone. Yomi turned around to see the person that spoke. A young girl, around 5 years old, stood a couple of feet from Yomi. The child had long, dark purple hair mixed with crimson red highlights. She wore a long gray silk poncho-style robe along with sandals.
"A subconscious thought?" Yomi asked the child in a stern stare. "I can somewhat tell I'm asleep and dreaming. So this reality is just my mind in a wandering float." she smiled, nodding. "Those dream books really do work."
"Reality becomes fantasy. Take the two choices you have Ms. Yomi. You could have more than two, four, and so on." She paused. "Your mind is what limits your thoughts and choices." the young one whispered to Yomi. "I would take the latter half of my second option."
Yomi shifted her gaze to the sky in a deep thought. "I can't recall what they said about meeting a child in a dream or what it means if there's mountains." Shifting a smile she returned her gaze back to the girl. "Alright, why don't we go over that again one more time and..." she stopped in mid sentence as she was interrupted by a high pitched hissing sound from behind. She turned her head, looking back at the two paths, she saw numerous figures appear.
From the ground, one by one, dim lights revealed a standing person. The seven people were all familiar to Yomi, except one.
"Well" ... "It" ... "Seems" ... "Your" ... "Mind" ... "Is" ... "Free" the group said; one word each from left to right; excluding the eighth person. The seven people circled around Yomi but kept a couple of feet away from her. Yomi turned around in a circle, getting a glimpse of each person. Dream or not, claustrophobia began its run on her, making her tense up with fear.
"You think two dimensional." Kagura said shaking her head in disagreement.
"I wouldn't take us seriously. We're only figments of your mind." Chiyo responded with a smug look.
"Right..." Sakaki agreed coldly.
"Alright," she started breathing frantically, "This is freaking me out." Yomi backed up a couple of steps in fright. She gasped at the body she felt from behind. Turning around she was face to face with Kaorin.
"Everyone thinks I have problems, but," Kaorin frowned, "your problems are far greater to ignore." Yomi pushed her way through, reaching up to the young girl, "If fantasy can become reality, or whatever you call it, fix things right! Wake me up." Squinting her eyes Yomi turned back to the group, "Good thoughts, just wake up... just wake up..."
"Leave the little one alone," Tomo interjected. "You always think you're the wisest person around here." Yomi opened her eyes with anger building up inside her body. "You're such a child Tomo! Don't even try to lecture me."
"That's not very nice Yomi..." Ayumu scolded, looking up with a pointing finger, "You made the pigtails cry."
"Yeah Yomi."
"Yeah..."
"Shut up! Shut up! All of you!" Yomi turned around, holding her ears.
"Good Morning Yomi, How are you?"
"Good morning?" Yomi slowly turned around again. The anger slipped from her body as curiosity kicked in. She was very surprised to be hearing 'English'.
"I-I-I'm... fine." She responded. She had a vague memory of the figure standing at the right of her. Only one person knew the figure as 'the father' but it wasn't Yomi. "Its... only reasonable to better understand yourself."
"Who are you?" Before Yomi got a response she noticed the sky turning into darkness at a alarming rate. The surroundings around her started to vanish. The last persons she saw were the shadowy figures of Yukari and Minamo. They were sharing a secret together and giggling. Afterwards, complete darkness engulfed her surroundings. She felt her body slowly laying back. A soft touch glided her back as she rested in a tilting position.
"So funny she denies it..." ... "It is..."
"Yomi..." ... "Helloooooooo sleepyhead..."
"Yomi..." "Hmm?" Yomi shuttered in response as she slowly opened her eyes. Upon opening her eyes, two dark brown energetic eyes stared back at her.
"Rise and shine! What's the word, my morning glory!"
"AH!, Double Chop!" Yomi sneered in a outcry, giving Tomo a double chop.
"Ow! What did I do to deserve that?" holding her head in pain she howled.
"For waking me up so rudely." Yomi scolded Tomo. Angry about the rude awakening, Yomi shifted her weight on the chair. "Hey, sorry about that... I just... you know, woke up on the wrong side of the 'chair'," she smiled at Tomo.
"No problem Yomes," Tomo smiled lightly with a loose grin. "You're going to be in for a great suprise." Yomi gave a confused look; not knowing what Tomo meant. She inhaled, and leaned back down on the chair while noticing something out of the ordinary. "What's that smell?" She sniffed the aroma. "What is that? It smells good."
"It's called breakfast, my dear Yomi."
"Oh...? Wait.. I know that." She objected to the answer Tomo gave. Tomo got back on her feet and headed back to the kitchen. "It will be ready in ten minutes." Tomo paused, "I knew I came in here for something else..." she made a pointing finger to her chin. "Oh well..."
"Morning." Yomi thought, turning her head to face the balcony. Light gray clouds engulfed the sky with a some light rain drizzling. "I actually slept pretty good." Sitting up in the chair Yomi observed the apartment. She noticed that the room had more lighting in the day time as she looked around in full circle. "Doesn't look too bad."
"Tomo, where's the remote?"
"On the stack left of the bean chair!... Right of the comic book stack!... You can't miss it." Yomi glanced around the area browsing for the remote. "Man, her and her junk." "Never mind!"
"Thats good cause I knew what you were going to see! Breakfast should be enjoyed in silence!" Tomo trailed off while Yomi reclined in the chair, "Morning news, then out the door. Sooooooo boring! You need to start having breakfast more often."
Yomi had a discomforted feeling at the fact that Tomo knew her too well. From lifestyles to inner self, it was like Tomo had the complete guide to Yomi; all the way down to things she knew about Yomi that she didn't know herself. "40 percent off this week, The Koyomi Mizuhara Story: Tomo Takino." Yomi sarcastically thought.
"Yeah, whatever," she said to herself as she slowly got out of the chair. Pushing with her good foot, she hobbled cautiously to the bed. The pain was eased some from the pull from the night before. Gently laying down, she fluffed the pillow behind her and rested her back on the wall. Tomo entered the room looking for Yomi. "There you are," she said heading to the bed. Glancing out of the window near the bed Tomo remembered something. "Oh no, my babies! That's what I forgot." she whined. "Let me bring you y'all in."
"Hey? Hey? What are you doing?" Yomi questioned with confusion while Tomo jumped up on the bed and crossed over her. Tomo stumbled over, trying to open the window.
"Tomo, you clumps. Get off of me!"
"No need to worry, almost done," Tomo assured, opening the window and pulling in the two plants. "Looks like both of y'all got a good shower this morning."
"You could have asked me to get up real quickly instead of crawling all over me." Yomi protested, moving her body out of the way from the fallen 'wildcat'.
Tomo readjusted herself, which caused Yomi to slump backward on the bed. Resting herself in a kneeling position over Yomi, Tomo brought in the two plants with her hands. "Tulip and Lily, meet Yomi," Tomo smiled, holding up the plants to her chest.
"Thump.."
"Uhg? N-nice to me-et you. Tomo g-e-et off of me now." Blushing fiercely Yomi closed her eyes in embarrassment. A new wave of flushed feelings filled her head, all the way down to her heart. Her heart started to beat faster while the butterflies were let loose in her stomach.
"Did you see them Yomi? I have a magic green thumb! First plants I grew! Magic thumbs, magic thumbs!"
"Yes I did... now...get off, please."
"Are you getting a fever? Tomo asked, inching closer. "You're face is red.." she leaned over lightly, putting the plants down on the side of the bed. Tomo leaned over more, leaving a couple of inches free from each other's faces. The light smell of gardinias drifted from the tips of the 'wildcat's hair, trailing along in blissful movements across the air. She inhaled the intoxicating aroma, letting it take her beyond imagination. "This is wrong..." The sudden touch from Tomo's hand made a ticklish sensation up and down on Yomi's spine.
"Thump... Thump.."
"N-no," she stuttered in response to Tomo's touch. It was more then she could handle. Stray thoughts rushed through her head.
"You know what?" Tomo asked, gliding her hand down to Yomi's left cheek.
"Hmm..." Yomi responded, gently relaxing her eyes with a smile. She felt a bliss of happiness. She couldn't think of a logical reason, but she felt at ease.
"You're not hot," she said, nodding her head. Leaping off the bed in one swing, Tomo landed feet first on the floor. Reaching over she grabbed the two plants off the bed and rested them on the coffee table. "Almost done with breakfast," she jingled, making her way to the kitchen.
"Arhgg..." she paused, grabbing the pillow and muffling it over her face, crying out in frustration. "What's this... why am I feeling like this?" Rolling over she nestled her head into the pillow. "Why do I get all the confusing stuff?" she said into the pillow. Turning over, letting her lungs fill with fresh air she stared at the ceiling. "True comfort?..." Interrupting her thoughts Tomo emerged from the kitchen carrying a bed tray. "What's that for?" Yomi asked.
"For your breakfast." she placed the tray table over Yomi's stomach. A loose napkin was set on the tray. "Almost forgot," Tomo picked up the napkin and started dressing up Yomi for her meal. Yomi blushed in embarrassment but remained still. "I'll be back with your breakfast." Tomo said turning around, picking up a few loose pieces of paper from the floor as she headed back to the kitchen.
Yomi looked down at the tray table set on top of her, "This is silly..." she pulled on the tucked napkin, "Tomo, I don't need this. I can eat at the table." "Breakfast in bed, blah..."
"Breakfast is served!" Tomo came out from the kitchen holding a serving tray with two plates and a cup on top. Yomi sighed, readjusting the bed tray then looked up. "Thank you," she smiled, watching Tomo serve the food to her. "I never had a formal breakfast in bed, maybe this will be a good experience." she thought to herself.
"Wow, this looks really good. Tomo you sure outdid yourself." Yomi said eyeing the food.
"Belgian waffles," Tomo pointed to the main plate. "Toast and apple juice." Yomi twisted her lips slightly, still looking at the food.
"Don't you even say anything, or count anything. Rule of thought for the day: never insult the cook." Tomo made a punching jester. "Just dig in and enjoy." she said smiling.
"Oh ...I will enjoy." smiling as she took a bite of waffle.
--o--
"Yes, Mr. Kazumasho, can you please let my homeroom know that I will be running a little late... Yes, yes, thank you." Minamo made a left turn, "Ms. Yukari... no I haven't talked to her... uh hu, ok, ok, thank you."
"I've ran out of 'why' questions for you" Minamo eyed Yukari on the passenger side while she flipped her cell phone. She returned her attention back onto the road as she flew down the street. Minamo cursed herself for being late but slapped herself for going out drinking with her odd friend.
"This is normal for you to be late but not for me." Coming to a stop she turned her attention to Yukari. "With all the tardies you have it's a wonder you still have a job. You must have the heavens looking out for you." The light turned green as Minamo headed down the street. "Oh geez, even when you're asleep you cause me trouble. Now I'm talking to myself." she made a displeased face
"No mom, thirty more minutes," mumbled Yukari while Minamo turned the last corner and made her way to the faculty parking lot at the school campus. "Wake up! We're here.."
"... .. ..."
"This will wake her up.." Minamo hit the gas pedal, causing the car to accelerate. Turning a couple of quick sharp turns she made her way to the parking spot. Slamming on the brakes, the car's frame moved forward a couple of inches, pushing Yukari forward in her seat.
"AHH! What the HELL! Nyamo!"
"We're here, and we're late." Minamo said coldly, looking at her friend.
"Well nothing to cry over." Yukari added as she got out of the car. She made a yawning stretch.
"Did you sleep well? 'Cause I know I didn't."
"Your pillow is excellent."
"Yeah, thanks for letting me know. The floor is a horrible place to sleep on, unless your a cat or dog." added Minamo, resting her head on the roof of the car. "I only got 3 hours of sleep. And that's not good sleep, thats hardwood floor sleep along with your snoring." Yukari shrugged her shoulders at Minamo's statement. "Just make your class a study hall and cra..."
"I'm not like you, Yukari. I have responsibilities."
"So do I! My responsibility is my well being. Remember Nyamo, you, yourself come's before everyone else."
"Where did you get that rubbish from?" laughed Minamo.
"Some philosopher' or was it a writer? Don't know, don't care."
"If you so 'believe' in that then why am I always having to bail you out of tabs and stuff?"
"There are some things we can never understand." Yukari grinned. "Life does work in mysterious ways."
"Oh please, my brain hurts from trying to contemplate your ideas. Let's go." The two walked together to the main campus.
"Why are you stopping?" Minamo asked.
"It's nothing," Yukari added, catching up with Minamo as she turned her head one more time, with an unsettled feeling.
Notes: Time and effort, and a whole month plus, Chapter 10 is out. Writers block sucks.
Culture Notes:
A Belgian Waffle is a style of Waffle that is light and crisp compared to other waffles. It is often served warm by street vendors, dusted with confectioner's sugar, and sometimes topped with whipped cream or chocolate spread.